Little Birdie Communicationshttp://littlebirdie.agency
Using Our Marketing Powers for GoodWed, 03 May 2017 18:26:42 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.8.1https://i0.wp.com/littlebirdie.agency/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/cropped-LBC-Site-Icon-1.jpg?fit=32%2C32Little Birdie Communicationshttp://littlebirdie.agency
3232105173764Eliminate Website Update Headacheshttp://littlebirdie.agency/eliminate-website-update-headaches/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=eliminate-website-update-headaches
Wed, 03 May 2017 00:54:24 +0000http://littlebirdie.agency/?p=565Read More →]]>Keeping your website up to date can be a challenge – believe me, I know. I spent 16 years maintaining websites full-time. For small businesses and non-profits, websites are sometimes seen as “extra” when it comes to updates, but they’re one of the most important things to keep current, because people are more likely to check you out online before contacting you. That means your website is often their first impression, so you don’t want it to be out of date.

I’m going to show you how to set up a system that will help you maintain your website content, as well as show you where you can make changes on your website that make it easier for you (and less work so you can focus on other things).

Make It Someone’s Job

Your website content needs to be owned by someone. This person might be you or someone on your staff. Don’t give this job to the youngest person in your office and assume that because he or she is young, they are “computer savvy” and this should be second-nature. In today’s age, learning basic website upkeep is a job skill similar to using email – your office staff needs to know how to do this. It’s as simple as opening the right software and updating the text – just a step harder than updating a word processing document.

Depending on the size of your website and the amount of content on it, this job might be divied up among several people. For example, your sales person might be responsible for making sure your products and/or services are current, whereas your office manager is responsible for making sure your hours and contact information is up to date, including updates as staff change if those are posted online.

You may also choose to have one person make the changes on the website, but someone else be responsible for giving them the updates. In the example above, your sales manager might be responsible for the sales content, but your office manager goes onto the website and makes the updates. You need to determine this process based on your business and staff. I find that some people prefer to make the changes on the website themselves, whereas others are very happy to pass the needed updates on to another person.

Add Web Updates to Your Processes

You probably have someone who updates your brochure (if you have one) – who makes sure the updated brochure is posted online (whether it’s a PDF of the brochure or the content is more web-friendly)? There’s a strong possibility that no one thinks about that, and that’s a mistake. If you’re already updating another publication, the very next step is to make sure the same information is updates on your website. The easiest way to do this is to add it to your procedures. It will take a little while, but eventually updating your website will happen as the next step, just like calling the printer.

Minimize Upkeep By Maximizing Content

There are a few simple changes that you can make on your website that require fewer updates.

Dates vs. Years

When possible, state the date instead of the number of years. For example, instead of saying “ABC Inc. has been serving the community for 25 years,” change it to “ABC Inc. has been serving the community since 1992.” The same information is relayed, but you don’t need to go onto your website every year and change the number of years. This simple tactic becomes even more useful if you include bios of your staff online.

If you have a special anniversary year, put the dates on the icon – so a 25-year seal should also have 1992-2017 on it. That way you can use that seal for more than a year and your visitors know when you celebrated 25 years.

File Names

One of my favorite make-my-life-easier hacks is to keep document names the same on websites. As a webmaster, I got new versions of documents all the time, and instead of uploading “Report-final-2017.pdf” I changed the name to “Report.pdf” – then, every time the report needed to be updated, I would upload the new version, which automatically replaces the file. The reason this is really smart is that once you upload the new document, you’re done. You don’t need to go through your website an update every link – which can be tricky on a large website where documents are accessible from several locations (which can be important for usability). Whenever that happens, it never fails that one of the links wasn’t updated and goes to the wrong version, then you have two versions of the same document on your website – or you deleted the old version and one of the links goes to a 404 Not Found page. Using a new file name for each update makes keeping your website up to date complicated fast.

The exception to this is when there are several versions from specific years that need to be posted at the same time. If you have one price list each year and you only have the current one posted, keep the same file name. But if you need to have a two PDF calendars posted, then you will need to note them by year. In this case, keep a list of all of the places where this document has a link and add that to your update procedure.

Plugins and Code Embeds

If you have a calendar of events and you use a Google calendar or another tool internally, see if you can post those public events onto your website automatically. Google calendar has the ability to embed a calendar. This way, you don’t need to make the update in two places.

Annual Event Images

If you have a recurring event that you post on your website with a nice graphic on your home page, use the same image every year by creating an image (or paying a graphic designer to create it for you) without the date on it. This might not always be possible, but when it is, it makes your life easier because that image will already be uploaded onto your website, you’ll just need to post it when the time comes without needing to update the image and upload it.

Use Text Over Images

When you do have content that needs to be updated annually, put the dates in text on your website instead of in an image. Text is way easier to update, whereas images require you to go into an image editing software, make the change, then upload it and post it on your website. Not the end of the world, but when possible, have those updates made in the text itself instead.

Images With Dates

When you do need to use dates on an image, make it as easy on yourself as possible by using the same image each year with just the text change for the date. This means making the update happens as quickly as possible, plus the image size will already be correct since you used the same one last year. This also lends to consistency, which is helpful for visitors.

Image Templates

For other images that you make frequently, create a template. If you look at my blog title image, they’re consistent because I created a template that I update each week. I used to use a new image every week, and it took much longer to find an image, pick the font, and place it onto the image. Now it takes me a few minutes. .

Keep an Update Calendar

There are places where your website can’t have an easy hack, such as the CC date on the bottom. How many websites have you need to where that date is from last year? That makes visitors question whether the entire website is current at all. And it’s an easy one to miss for you, because it’s one of those things that you don’t pay attention to – it sorts of fades away as you look at your website.

I always have a document with a list of updates that need to be made throughout the year. This means on Jan. 2 (or your first day back in the new year) you should update the date in your footer, as well as any other date-related items that need to be changed. When your new price list comes out, that date and item should be listed, as well as everywhere it needs to be changed (such as Product page and PDF). Chances are you have certain things that occur cyclically, so take an hour or so to write those down and the places where those updates need to happen on your website. As the year goes on and new things pop up (or things that you didn’t remember), add them to the list. You or your staff are more likely to remember to make the updates, make the correct updates, and make them in all of the correct locations on your website.

To help you out, I created a free Website Update Calendar for you. This fully editable spreadsheet is better than an asprin!

Facebook Live Video: 5 Easy Ways to Keep Your Website Up to Date

]]>565Should I Put Prices on My Website?http://littlebirdie.agency/pricing/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pricing
Wed, 26 Apr 2017 15:26:41 +0000http://littlebirdie.agency/?p=541Read More →]]>I’m working on some home improvements and I have been pricing out all of the costs, including renting a dumpster. I quickly became frustrated when the majority of websites I visited didn’t include the prices. They wanted me to call or fill out a form for a “free quote.” For one thing, this was on a Sunday afternoon and they were all closed, so I couldn’t call and get someone right away. Second, I don’t want to have to wait for an email or call back and have someone sell to me. I just wanted the price of a 10 cubic yard dumpster. That’s it. It should be easy. It wasn’t, I left, and I’ll use one of the companies that made my job easy.

Make It Easy For Your Audience

I say this a lot, but that’s because it’s true – your website represents you online 24/7. Your audience is making quick judgements about you. If your website is difficult to use, people will think you’ll be difficult to work with. Oftentimes this is subconscious, but we make associations based on experience, so it stands to reason that if someone has a bad experience on your website, they’ll have a bad experience with you. That means lost business, which means lost revenue. A bad website is literally costing you income.

Why Prices Are Left Off of Websites

Many times businesses don’t want to include pricing on their website because they feel like they’re missing the opportunity to sell themselves, to have a personal touchpoint, and to get a potential customer’s information. This is the wrong reason, and here’s why: your website is a touchpoint. It is your opportunity to sell your business online. Most people won’t call or even fill out an online form to get a price – if it’s not right there, they leave.

The second reason is that businesses don’t want their competitors to know their pricing. I understand this, but guess what? Your competition already got my business because their information was easy to find and clearly defined. So you lose anyway. Boo!

But Visitors View the Price and Leave

This is a debate I’ve had many times, and I’ve seen the traffic. Oftentimes, your pricing page is one of your top exit pages on your website – meaning that it was the last page they viewed before leaving. But that’s OK! It’s very possible that the price was what they were looking for. They got the information they needed, and they left. You need to understand the behavior of your audience to know if this is good or bad. Google Analytics can help you see how people travel through your website.

People are rarely ready to buy when they first visit your website. They need to do research. They want to know who you are, what you offer, and for how much. Then they do the same thing with your competitors and compare the results. Of course, there’s a chance that they’ll take the time to call you or submit a form, but every time you add an additional step customers drop off.

When to Include Pricing

If your service or product is repeatable, include pricing. When you have an inventory of 100 yellow hats, they will all be sold for the same price. That’s repeatable. Going back to my dumpster story, renting a 10 cubic yard dumpster costs the same for each customer. The only possible variance might be mileage, but that can easily be explained with a base price that explains delivery and pickup within a certain range is included, and for every mile outside of that it is an additional $X.

When to Leave Pricing Off

There are times when adding prices to your website doesn’t make sense. I’m sure you’ve notice that I don’t have pricing on this website. That’s because I really need to know what you need. When someone asks me “what’s a website cost?” I say, “It depends.” That’s not because I’m being evasive, but because each project is different and each client has different needs. The services I offer are not cookie-cutter repeatable. Do you need branding, audience research, a marketing strategy, a website, social media accounts set up or refreshed, am I going to need to hire outside help… there are so many variables that I need to take into consideration. It’s OK to leave off your pricing when you have a product or service that isn’t repeatable.

When It’s Murky

It’s not always cut-and-dry. I was recently talking to someone who makes custom furniture, and each piece he makes has a different price depending on how much work goes into it. He has past projects that he made and sold, he has inventory ready to sell, and he takes custom requests. Here’s what I recommend for his website:

Post examples of past products with the price – this gives people an idea of the price range.

Post current inventory with the price. Ability to purchase online optional (he may not have enough inventory to justify supporting an online store).

Include a Shipping & Delivery section that explains how each works and the potential costs involved.

Include a Custom Order Form where someone can enter their contact information and give him an idea of what they want. He’ll have to follow-up to get more details., which is acceptable in a case like this.

In this example, all of his bases are covered. When someone visits his website, they’ll understand the price range so there won’t be any surprises later on. When they contact him, they’ll already have enough information to know if an item is in their budget.

Don’t Forget Shipping

This only applies to businesses selling physical products online.

One of the biggest problems I have with shopping online (and there’s tons of studies to back me up) is when I want to buy a product but I can’t find out what the shipping cost is. Often times, the only way to find out is to go through the process of “buying” the item. When this happens, the online store considers this an abandoned shopping cart, but the reality is I was gathering information at the time and wasn’t ready to purchase the item.

Shipping matters. A lot. People don’t like to pay for shipping. They will literally pay more for the product if shipping is free, even if the final price is the same or even less! There’s a lot of psychology around it, but basically, when we shop in a store, we aren’t charged a “shipping” fee, even though the cost of getting the product into to the store is rolled into the price and it costs money to put gas in your car and get there. We don’t associate the cost of traveling to the store with actually shopping. When we want to buy the same exact thing online, paying for shipping feels like an extra fee.

I’m not suggesting you have to offer free shipping (although if at all possible, I highly suggest it), but make sure your shipping fees and policies are clearly explained before someone goes through the checkout process. This type of transparency also builds trust with your audience because you are forthright with information that they need.

If you don’t know if you should include pricing or if your competitors are, I created a free worksheet to help you analyze three competitor’s websites in the areas of the home page, design, navigation, and services or products. It’s important to take stock of what others are doing in your field and make sure you are meeting industry standards on your website – and to see how you can do better than them!

Facebook Live Video: Publishing Prices and Website Usability

]]>541Branding 101http://littlebirdie.agency/branding-101/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=branding-101
Wed, 19 Apr 2017 00:37:46 +0000http://littlebirdie.agency/?p=529Read More →]]>Branding is something you’re likely familiar with. Most people think of logos and color schemes when it comes to branding, but it’s much more than that. Branding is really what people think of when they see your logo or hear your name.

Who Owns Your Brand?

The truth is, you don’t own your brand – your brand lives in the minds of everyone else. I’ll give you an example. If I said the name Trump to you five years ago, you probably would have thought “real estate, hair, The Apprentice, New York.” But if I say the word Trump to you today, your response will probably be “hair, President,” and everything else you think of will be related to your political views of Donald Trump, and those words could be extremely different. Trump doesn’t own his brand, we do.

Should I Just Stop Trying?

Just because your brand isn’t necessarily owned by you, that doesn’t mean you don’t have some control and influence over it. In fact, you have a lot of control and influence over your brand. It’s your actions that help form your brand’s image. If you hear about United Airlines, the image that comes to your mind today (April, 2017) is probably that of a semi-conscious man being dragged down the aisle of an airplane. You can bet that’s not what United wants you to think of – they want you to think of them in a positive light, “Fly the Friendly Skies!” But those two images don’t match, and that’s because United hasn’t done anything to make the skies feel friendly. There’s a long list of complaints about United, which is knowns for having a culture that treats their employees and passengers as nuisances. When that happens, the incident I described above is what happens. And no one was very surprised – outraged, sure, but surprised? Not so much. That’s because so many people have had terrible experiences on United, that this behavior isn’t out of character for them.

Branding is the Entire Package

Every single touch point that you have with a customer or potential customer affects our branding. When you develope a good, authentic relationship with your audience, they see it. We can tell the marketing garbage from the real thing. Giving something a shiny layer doesn’t change the fact that underneath it’s all rusted. If you own a restaurant, the people who interact with your customers will have the biggest affect on their experience. of course, there’s a certain basic level expected – a clean environment, clean dishes, and good food. Even with those things, if the service is terrible, that person doesn’t think very well of you. The experience has to deliver – you have to keep the promise you made.

Creating Your Brand

There are many parts to a brand. Your logo, color scheme, font choices, imagery, and voice are a part of that. Those are the introduction. They’re how someone can tell, at a glance, what you’re about. So they are definitely important. But beyond that, your brand is what you do. You want people to see the real you, whether that’s you as an individual, company, or organization. You want to be authentic. That’s a buzzword that us marketers like to throw around, but there’s a truth to it. The good news is, being authentic should be pretty easy – it’s being you.

How to Be Authentic

I know, it’s easier said than done, right? That’s why I’ve created a cheat sheet for you. In 10 Authentic Social Media Ideas, I’ll give you examples of ways you can share your brand with your audience on social media in ways that show them your true brand – the real you. I’ve included real-world examples so you can see how these ideas work.

Facebook Live Video: Talking About Branding

Chatterbox Rocks Podcast: Dana’s Marketing Minute

I’m also very excited to premiere a new segment called Dana’s Marketing Minute on the Chatterbox Rocks podcast. Suzanne and Liz are two musicians trying to make their way in the music business and I’ll be talking about branding for musicians. Listen to Episode 28 on iTunes (I’m at the 11:40 mark).

]]>529Stop Using “Click Here” And Improve SEO and Readabilityhttp://littlebirdie.agency/stop-using-click-here/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=stop-using-click-here
Mon, 10 Apr 2017 10:00:03 +0000http://littlebirdie.agency/?p=497Read More →]]>There is one thing that makes me bonkers – BONKERS – on websites and in emails – the words “Click Here.” Ugh! When I started working at Shady Side Academy in 2010 as their Manager of Web Communications, the first thing I did was ban the words “click here” in any online communications. It was fine to use it amongst ourselves when we were talking things out, but when it came to creating a web page or email, that phrase was changed to something descriptive.

“Click Here” is one of those phrases that just won’t die, but it needs to. It’s a useless phrase for a few reasons.

People Understand What Buttons and Links Are

Back in the Internet’s infancy, people were learning how to do the most basic tasks. At the time, adding “click here” to a button or link was a way to help them along. But guess what? We are past that – way past that. You know how to click or tap a button and how to use a link. Those skills are part of our common internet language – we simply understand it now like we know how to open a drawer or put on a shirt. Someone had to teach us how to do that, but now we do it without thinking.

“Click Here” Links Tell You Nothing

How many times have you visited a website and seen something like this:

To learn more you can click here, here, and here.

That sentence literally tells the reader nothing. It doesn’t tell you what you’re reading more about (although it’s presumably in the previous sentence), and it doesn’t tell you where you’re going or what to expect. Most people scan web pages and links are one of those things that cause a reader to slow down. It’s unhelpful for the reader when every link on the page is “click here.” Help your readers and make your links mean something.

“Click Here” Links Tell Search Engines Nothing

If helping your readers isn’t your thing, how about search engines? One of the things Google and the like look for on a website that help put it in context are links. When your links all say “click here,” Google has a harder time knowing what your website is about. That’s points off right there, sending you farther and farther down search results. Simply using descriptive links will help you ranking.

“Click Here” is Lazy and You’re Better Than That

I think a lot of people, especially those first starting out online, don’t know what else to use. They’ve seen “click here” before and so they use it. The truth is, using “click here” is lazy. You are better than that! You can think of another word or phrase that better describes a button or link.

If you’re reading this and thinking, “Sure, Dana, that’s easy for you to say!” then you’re in luck. I’ve created a No More “Click Here” Cheat Sheet that gives you examples of what you can use instead, in various situations.

Ban “Click Here” and Use Descriptive Links

I want you to make me a promise – a promise that you won’t use “click here” links in your marketing any more. Instead, I want you to commit to using descriptive links. A descriptive link simply describes the link.

Notice that I didn’t hyperlink the entire sentence, just the part that links to the cheat sheet. I simply linked the title of the cheat sheet to the cheat sheet. It’s really not more complicated than that.

Ban “Click Here” From Your Buttons

Buttons are similar to links in that they should be descriptive, but how descriptive depends on the type of button and call to action you’re making. A form submit button should be short – just a few words. A button like the one I use for my freebie can be longer – in this case, I use the entire title of the freebie, along with the words “Download Dana’s Freebie.” This way, anyone reading the button knows that they can download a free item called No More “Click Here” Cheat Sheet. When you click on this button, you expect to be taken to a page where you can download – or sign up to download – a free cheat sheet. I also used a download icon to support this. Images and icons can help readers understand what you want them to do, but be sure you don’t rely on them entirely. I still used the word “download” on the button. The two reinforce each other.

Use Common Words

A note on descriptive links and buttons – while I want you to be creative, make sure you’re using words that make sense to your reader. Skip the jargon you use in your industry. When people are looking for a search bar, they look for the word “search.” I’ve seen some very clever websites take a huge hit because they got too clever with their navigation and people couldn’t find what they wanted. You have a restaurant? People are looking for a menu – call it “menu.” If you use a search option on your website and capture the inputs, this is a great place to see what people are looking for and the words they are using to find it.

“Click Here” Instead of Good Navigation

I truly believe that if you need to hold a class to show someone how to use your website, then you’re doing something wrong (I’m talking about basic website navigation, not a specialty use of a website that’s more technical). This is why some people end up using “Click Here.” They need to clarify where people need to go to accomplish a task. That’s a huge problem. If you find yourself in this situation, you need to revamp your website so it can be easily navigated.

When Good People Use “Click Here”

I still see marketing professionals use “click here” and every time I shake my head. It’s something that people will continue to use for various reasons, but it’s really not necessary. The next time you see it used on a website or in an email, mentally remove those words. Do you still know what to do? Most likely, the answer is yes.

Facebook Live Video: 5 Reasons Why You Should Stop Using “Click Here”

]]>497Pepsi Hijacked a Movement to Sell a Producthttp://littlebirdie.agency/pepsi-hijacked-a-movement-to-sell-a-product/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pepsi-hijacked-a-movement-to-sell-a-product
Thu, 06 Apr 2017 00:31:55 +0000http://littlebirdie.agency/?p=522Read More →]]>Oh, Pepsi. What did you do? Why did you do it? This is the type of marketing that ruins marketing for the rest of us. I hate this kind of marketing – the hijacking of a movement for the sake of making a few bucks. This type of marketing puts profits over people, and this ad in particular made that fact even worse by using today’s hot-button topics to sell a soft drink – a soft drink – in an ad that didn’t even address anything, just took several serious matters and threw so much pixie dust on them they were barely recognizable.

Friends, this blog post addresses political topics that people feel very strongly about. It’s important to discuss this because a big company is using controversial topics to sell stuff. This issue goes to the very heart of marketing ethics, and it’s something I feel very strongly about. Buckle up, it’s about to get bumpy.

First, if you haven’t seen the ad, take a few minutes to watch it:

I get it, Pepsi tried to be current, edgy, and provocative, to create something that was moving. They missed the mark by a mile. Here’s the problem – the ad was about Pepsi. If they really wanted the ad to be about the reason people are protesting, it should have been about the reason people are protesting. Instead of promoting peace or unity, it promoted a soft drink – and Kendall Jenner, if we’re being honest. Pepsi saw something that people were passionate about, and tried to make it about their brand. It was insincere and made light of a issues that are very serious to many people. They literally commercialized people’s real-life struggles, in the most ironic way possible.

I’ve watched the commercial a few times. I really think they were so impressed with themselves for featuring a man of color and a Muslim woman in a hijab. In marketing we try to be inclusive, to be sure our images aren’t too… anything. Can’t be too white, too Asian, too female, too male, etc. This is something I’ve done time and again. I believe inclusiveness is important and that ads should reflect real people, but it was like they checked off all of the “diversity” boxes:

brown person – check

black person – check

Muslim person – check

woman – check

Muslim woman in a hijab – bonus points!

controversial topics – check

people looking empowered – check

hot celebrity – check

The worst part (if there is a single worst part) is that they watered down the protests so much that it looked like a 1960s theme night, which glossed over the very real fight for civil rights that occurred during that time. They made the protest look like a party, not like a group of people who are angry at the way they are being treated. In an ironic twist, they made such great strides to prevent offending anyone by only showing signs with peace signs and hearts and words like “love” and “peace” that they missed the entire point of their own commercial! If a controversial issue is important enough to you to put your brand behind it, commit and be prepared for the fallout. Don’t half-ass it and expect people to stand up and cheer for your courageousness.

The ending where they implied police brutality was shameful. Having a police officer drink a Pepsi and then what, decide NOT to beat the crap out of a protester (is that the message?). This treatment of a very serious issue is wrong on so many levels. It gives a sly wink to the people who have been abused by corrupt officers and insults the entire profession of police enforcement. It’s almost impressive how many people Pepsi was able to take jabs at in such a cavalier manner.

There are many good officers who put their lives on the line everyday to protect us. In this ad, Pepsi implies that a can of soda is all it takes for police to gain a conscience, as though all officers are crooked and unable to prevent themselves from using unnecessary force without the help of a friendly reminder that there’s a better way. The cop literally raises an eyebrow to another officer after drinking the Pepsi, as though he’s saying, “Hey, I guess these people are OK after all.” You know, since they’re “cool” enough to drink “the right soda.”

The self-congratulatory celebrating that occurs after the offer tastes a drink is how I image the folks at Pepsi reacted after watching this ad for the first time. I’m sure there were high fives, fist-bumps, and back slaps galore as they imagined the buzz they were going to get after it aired. It’s not like they didn’t know there would be controversy, but I bet the controversy they expected was a hearty debate over their audacity to feature a Muslim woman wearing a hijab, the merits of protesting, and their stand against police brutality. I’m sure they already had a response written that doubles-down on their stance and declares they are proud to feature a diverse group of people who truly reflect the fabric of our country.

This is not what good marketing is about. If Pepsi really, truly wanted to do something good and to support the people who are protesting, there are so many ways they could have done that. They could have donated money to an organization that’s helping others. They could have given their employees a paid day off to volunteer or protest or whatever they chose to do to make a positive difference. Then, if this was truly an act of goodness and not a publicity stunt, they shouldn’t have done anything afterwards to promote themselves. No press release, no feel-good video about the great job they did. Pepsi should have simply let the act speak for itself. And you know what would have happened? Their employees and the organizations would have told the story for them. They would have genuinely, truly thanked Pepsi for actually making a difference – for taking the money they could have spent on a ridiculous ad (ahem, see above) to create real results that help real people. Or maybe not, maybe no one ever finds out. And that’s OK, because the act should have been more important than the mentions on social media and the video views.

This is a struggle we face in our marketing. I acknowledge it. We have jobs to do, and that’s to get our message out there in front of people. However, I will always be a proponent of doing so responsibly and ethically. Responsible marketing starts with each of us. The type of marketing Pepsi just pulled isn’t OK with me, and I hope it isn’t OK with you either.

]]>522Using Colors to Enhance Design and Usabilityhttp://littlebirdie.agency/color-design-usability/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=color-design-usability
Mon, 03 Apr 2017 10:00:22 +0000http://littlebirdie.agency/?p=488Read More →]]>Color choice is an important part of your website and marketing materials. I believe that design and usability go hand-in-hand. It is so frustrating to me when when something is so poorly designed that’s it’s hard to use. It’s also very frustrating to see something that’s designed to be pretty but not very functional. This is true when it comes to marketing, especially with websites.

There are many aspects to design, but I want to talk to you about color today, because color choice can make or break a website or marketing piece for one reason: contrast.

Contrast Isn’t Sexy

I realize that talking about contrast isn’t very exciting. When most people think about applying color to their marketing, they think more about what matches their brand. Some even delve into color theory – what color evokes the way I want my audience to feel? Red is sexy or angry. Blue is calming. Green relates to nature or money. You could spend days – weeks – trying to determine just the right hue and shade to make that marketing piece really pop – only to end up with something illegible, because without good contrast, your marketing materials can’t be read. And if they can’t be read, they can’t be understood. Then you’ve just wasted everyone’s time.

Print vs. Screen Reading

People read differently using print than they do on screens, and this is important when it comes to choosing colors. Some things that work well in one media don’t work well in the other. As we read print, we comprehend it better. Physically holding something adds a tactile layer to how we process information in a way that a computer or mobile device screen cannot mimic. That’s why I advise to keep content shorter on screens (with a few exceptions).

High Contrast, High Comprehension

The easier we as marketers make it for our audience, the more likely they are to actually read what we’ve written, and hopefully actually retain some of it. Using a high contrast between a background and text makes the brain work less, leaving more room for actual reading. That’s why black text on a white background is the most common way we read, even on devices. But that doesn’t mean we should shun color altogether. Color can be very effective when sued properly.

Bringing in Some Color

When you are working with colored text on a colored background, there simply has to be enough contrast between them. It might be a nice design to have a monotone color palette, and it certainly has its place in design, just not with text. When you’re adding text, whether it’s a headline, menu, button or copy, it has to be easy to read. I realize that seems very DUH, but I see it all the time. We get so caught up in how pretty it is, we compromise on the readability – which is a huge mistake.

Considering Text and Background Colors

The MOST readable colors are black on white, but that’s pretty boring in marketing materials. When considering text and background colors, the length and size of your text matters. A headline is larger, so it’s automatically easier to read. You can be more creative here with text and background color. The more text you have, and the smaller it is, the higher the contrast needs to be. When it comes to blog posts or text-heavy brochures, black text on a white background, or something similar like a navy blue on a light off-white background, are best. Avoid patterned backgrounds in these areas too. Light text on a dark background is harder to read with smaller the text, so reserve that style for larger text like headings, or shorter pieces like menu items that are only a few words.

My Embarrassing True Story

We’re friends, right? I’m going to share with you something that is really embarrassing, but I’m telling you this because I want you to realize that we all make mistakes, and to help to prevent you from making a similar one.

When I was creating the branding for Little Birdie Communications, I used yellow as my main color – well, as my only color, along with black and white (which don’t usually count in your color palette). The way my website is set up, the accent color is automatically applied throughout the website. I set it to my Little Birdie yellow and when on my merry way. It took a few months for me to realize why this was a bad idea. Every link on my website was in yellow, and on a white background, it was hard to read. It wasn’t just links within texts, it was ALL links on my website, including a list of recent blog posts on my home page. Imagine, here I am telling other people the importance of usability and readability, and my own website wasn’t utilizing this principle! SO embarrassing!

I had to make a change, and I wanted to keep yellow as my main brand color, but I clearly needed to add a new accent color that would fix my contrast problem. I decided to add a blue to my brand’s color palette. I still predominantly use yellow, but I know I have blue as an accent. This difference is remarkable!

What a difference! The blue is simply so much easier to read. Of course, I used a blue that is dark enough to be read on white, while also being bright enough to match my yellow. A sky blue or baby blue wouldn’t have worked.

Facebook Live Video: Chatting About Color, Design, and Usability in Marketing

]]>488HTML Basics to Help You Manage Your Websitehttp://littlebirdie.agency/html-basics-to-help-you-manage-your-website/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=html-basics-to-help-you-manage-your-website
Mon, 27 Mar 2017 14:00:04 +0000http://littlebirdie.agency/?p=960Read More →]]>HTML is the code that makes your website go. It’s also the scary part of your website that I usually tell clients and students to click away from if they find it – but today we’re going to look at HTML right in the eye. I don’t expect you to begin coding in HTML (heck, I don’t even do that), but understanding it just a little bit can really save you time and frustration because even though your CMS (content management system) makes adding and editing content easier, sometimes you need to get into the code.

HTML 101

HTML stands for HyperText Markup Language. It essentially tells your Internet browser (Chrome, Safari, Firefox, etc.) how your website is supposed to look and work. There are other code languages that work with HTML (CSS and JavaScript are two that you might recognize) but we’re only going to look at HTML.

Sections and Tags

HTML basically works like this: your website is divided into sections. Each section begins and ends with an HTML tag. The first one in a section looks like this: <tag> and the last one like this: </tag>. We know it’s the end tag because of the slash.

Each web page begins and ends with HTML tags: <HTML> and </HTML>

Within the page is the body. That’s where your web page content lives. The body tags look like this: <body> and </body>

Within your body tags are all of the content on your website including text, images, videos, links, etc. Each of those have their own tags.

HTML Tags Nest

It’s important that each of your beginning and ending HTML tags are nested within each other. Think of Russian nesting dolls. The smaller one begins and ends before the one larger than it, which begins and ends before the one larger than it. HTML is like that. Here’s an example (I added the indents for demonstration purposes):

<html>

<body>

<p>This is where your text goes.</p>

</body>

</html>

That could be an entire web page – a pretty boring one -with one line on it like this:

This is where your text goes.

That’s it!

Common HTML Tags

Here are the common HTML tags that you will see if you look at the HTML code on your website:

paragraph: <p> and </p>

headings: <h1> and </h1>, <h2> and </h2>, <h3> and </h3>, <h4> and </h4>, <h5> and </h5>, <h6> and </h6>

Each heading size has a different number – the smaller the number, the larger the header. In other words, you start with h1 at the top of you page and the next subheader is h2. A subheader for h2 is h3, and so on.

Tags With More Information

Some tags need more information within them, which are called attributes. A link is a prime example, because the code needs to tell the browser what it should be linked to – where a visitor will go when they click or tap on the link.

Any time a tag needs more information, that attribute is contained within quotation marks with an equal sign before it.

link: <a href=”http://www.website.com”>www.website.com</a href>

The text between the link tages are what will show as the link on the web page.

Image tags do not have an ending </img> tag because there is no need to tell the browser that there’s an end to the image. The other attributes within the image tag give the browser the information it needs to properly display the image.

img src = image source (this is the URL location of the image on your website)

alt = alternative text (this is used for people with visual imparities to help them understand the image and can also be used to help SEO)

width: the width of the image in pixels

height: the height of the image in pixels

Troubleshooting HTML

You should be able to look at HTML code and recognize the tags above, which are the most common tags. Sometimes you’ll find that when you copy and paste text onto your website the spacing is off. This is when checking the HTML code can be really helpful.

Common Culprits

Missing Paragraph Tags

Sometimes your paragraphs will be separated in the HTML view, but the text runs together in preview. This is usually because either the beginning and ending paragraph tags are missing or just the the ending paragraph tag is missing.

To fix this, manually add it to the HTML. It’s a pain, but it will fix it. I will type the tag once and then copy and paste it at the beginning and/or end of each paragraph.

Extra Font Tags and Attributes

Sometimes you’ll notice that the text appears in the wrong font or size. That’s because when you copied and pasted it, those attributes were also copied and pasted. This is why I usually write my blog posts right in the CMS. If you have the problem you’ll have to go through and delete those. Here’s an example:

<p style=”font-family:veranda;”>paragraph text</p>

In this case, you’ll need to delete everything within the beginning paragraph tag except the p, so it looks like this instead: <p>paragraph text</p>

Text Alignment

Text should almost always be left justified, and sometimes no matter what you do, it just won’t work. That’s when it’s time to look at the HTML. Sometimes a tag will have several attributes that overwrite each other like this:

<p style=”text-align: center;” “text-align:left;”>paragraph text</p>

Remove the faulty attribute and leave the correct one.

Embedding HTML

The most common type of embedded code is for video. It’s one of the few times when I’ll recommend that you host something on your website somewhere else because video is HUGE and there are so many places where you can host it for free. YouTube, Facebook, and Vimeo all provide the ability to embed a video on your website so that it can be viewed on the page without your visitors needing to leave your site.

You’ll need to copy the code from the site, then on your web page go to the HTML view and paste the video where you would like it to appear. As I’m working on my website in the regular view I’ll add a line with the word “video” as a placeholder. Then, when I’m looking at the HTML, I’ll know right where I need to paste the code. Viola! Video right on your website.

Adding Different Links

There are your basic links that go to a website or document, and then there are links that allow your visitor to send an email or call you. These have become more important as visitors access your website from mobile devices more often than desktop. Have you ever visited a website on your phone and needed to call them, but when you tapped on the phone number nothing happened (and even worse, you can’t copy it)? It’s one of those annoyances – don’t make me have to write it down when I’m already looking at it on my phone!

Using a telephone link will make your phone number a link that allows your visitor to tap it and make the call right then. Similarly, an email link will allow them to tap on the link and a new email will open in their email app with the address already right there, ready to go! The phone link won’t work on a desktop computer, but the email link will.

Here’s how you add these:

highlight the phone number or email address (it’s important to include the full email address on your website – if a visitor uses a browser-based email system like Gmail they won’t be able to use the link to open a new email, and if that’s the only way they can see your email they’ll be stuck)

click the link button

instead of typing in a website, type in:

phone number: tel:555-555-1234

email address: mailto:email@website.com

Save as you would for any other link

When you look at the HTML after doing this, it will look like:

<a href=”tel:555-555-1234″>555-555-1234</a>

<a href=”mailto:email@website.com”>email@website.com</a>

Remember, the text between the tags will be the link on the web page.

You’re on Your Way

There you go! That wasn’t so hard, was it? Of course, there’s a lot more to HTML, but this should have given you a basic understanding and few actionable items that you can use to make managing your website a little bit easier.

]]>960Marketing Explained: Escape Room Pittsburgh Millshttp://littlebirdie.agency/marketing-explained-escape-room-pittsburgh-mills/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=marketing-explained-escape-room-pittsburgh-mills
Wed, 01 Mar 2017 10:00:00 +0000http://littlebirdie.agency/?p=451Read More →]]>Visiting a local mall recently, I ran across a new attraction – Escape Room Pittsburgh Mills. You’ve probably heard of escape rooms – they’re the new Big Thing. The premise is that you need to solve clues to “escape” within a certain amount of time. Since I haven’t tried this before, I grabbed one of the flyers they had.

Marketing doesn’t need to be a mystery, and oftentimes there are just a few things that can be done to bring your materials together. The best way to show this is to take real-world examples and show you what they did right and what can be improved upon.

For Escape Room Pittsburgh Mills, I looked at both the handout, which is 1/2 of an 8.5×11 piece of paper, longwise (4.25×11) and their website at www.escaperoompittsburghmills.com.

Handout

The handout has a logo which is poorly printed onto a black background. There are images in the background that are very difficult to see (I’m not even sure what all of them are). The “Mills” is placed over Escape Room in a font and color that doesn’t work with “Escape Room.” I suspect the accent color is supposed to be red, but it printed out as a dark pink. The contrast isn’t strong enough with the background for the smaller print. The color should be lighter and a bolder font choice would have made the paragraphs easier to read.

I am not a fan of underlining anything but links, even in print, and the underlined BOOK NOW! is no exception. They get a few points for using yellow for their contact information – it’s the only thing on the page that has a strong contrast with the background.

The biggest, most unforgivable error is the white border that cuts off the text in the paragraphs. Testing your print work is important! I’m sure it looked fine on the screen, but things don’t already print as expected. You HAVE TO CHECK.

At the bottom, barely legible because of the small, thin font in a terrible color, is the line, “Like and share us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.” That’s it. No handles. If you’re asking people to find you, make it easy. A simple @yourTwitter would have been easy to add. As a side note, on their website they only have links to Twitter and Facebook, not Instagram. Do they even have an Instagram account? Who knows?

What They Got Right

Contact Information

Their contact information – both a website and a phone number, which is important, are clearly visible on the handout. They also include their address, although it’s in a poor font, color, and size.

What’s Missing

What to Expect

I have never been to an escape room, so I want to know what to expect. You need to get your potential customers over their initial fears of trying something new, and to do this, you need to explain how it works. I found “Stage 1” and “Stage 2” confusing. To me, one stage comes after the other, but this seems like they’re two separate things. Also, how long is it? How many people go into the room at once? Is it just you and your group, or are you with other people? What happens when you “escape?” If you don’t escape?

Cost

I have no idea how much this is. Is it $10? $50? $100? Price is important here.

Contrast

I can’t say this enough – high contrast between your text and background is essential. If your copy can’t be read, it’s useless.

Logo

A clear logo gives a more professional appearance.

Website

Their website isn’t terrible. There’s a dark background, which is really tricky online, but fits with their branding. The font is fairly easy to read, although it’s all caps, which makes it harder. The light grey they use for the font doesn’t work for me, especially because it’s on top of an image, but it can be read.

They have better information here, and they explain what happens and how long the experience is. However, price is STILL MISSING! The only way I was able to find out how much it is was to go to the book a spot, and pick a date and time. I guarantee they wonder why they have so many abandoned carts – it’s because there’s no other way to find out the price.

What They Got Right

What to Expect

The basics are here. They explain how it works, how long it takes, and the two types of escape rooms. The website explains the escape room better than the handout.

What’s Missing

Who Runs This?

There is no information about the organization or people who operate the Escape Room. Some information about them would increase trust.

Cost

The cost should be easy to find. It doesn’t have to be front and center, but it shouldn’t be as hard to find, and a visitor certainly shouldn’t have to go through the checkout process just to discover the price.

Call To Action

I’m not sure that purchasing gift cards should be the Call to Action (or CTA) above the fold on the home page. While “Book Now!” is highlighted in the menu, the eye goes right to that button. I think a preview would be better, with a CTA of “Experience Escape Room” and a link to a video that gives the visitor an idea of what it would be like.

Social Media

Inconsistencies drive me crazy, and the fact that the handout has three social media sites – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – and the website only has two – Facebook and Twitter – is a simple mistake that should have been caught.

Comparison

Branding is important for any business, and when it’s well done and consistent, it shows a level of professionalism that instills a level of confidence in a customer. To demonstrate, I compared the handout and the website side-to-side. Two changes would have made a huge difference – accent color and logo.

Visual consistency matters. Do these two marketing pieces look like they’re from the same company? No. The only consistency is the dark background. Nothing else matches visually. A logo that is used on all marketing materials and consistent accent colors would do a lot to tie these together. If possible, using the same fonts would be even better, especially header fonts (text fonts aren’t as important, especially because not all browsers display fonts the same way, so that’s forgivable).

I’m not saying that everything needs to match perfectly. Every piece of your marketing arsenal should be designed to that type’s best advantage, and sometimes that means using different fonts or font colors, even different images. But they should look and feel like they belong together, and these two pieces don’t.

]]>451Create A Website Classhttp://littlebirdie.agency/create-a-website-class/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=create-a-website-class
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 20:36:52 +0000http://littlebirdie.agency/?p=424Read More →]]>Tonight I am starting a new course called Create A Website for a local adult education organization. I love sharing my knowledge with the community, but I’ll tell you a secret – I usually learn as much, if not more, as they do!

Creating and teaching classes like these so beneficial for me. I love having an online course available so that anyone can learn from me at any time, but there’s something about teaching a roomful of people face-to-face that can’t be beat! The instant feedback lets me know if I’m explaining things in the best way. As technology changes and people become more comfortable, I find that things I once had to explain in detail have become second nature. That kind of feedback is invaluable as I work on future courses.

My very favorite thing about teaching a classroom is the light bulb moment – that Aha moment when you can see everything click in a student’s mind. Those are the best!

Here’s to your future light bulb moment!

Until next time,

Dana

]]>424Day 1: Self-Employed At Last!http://littlebirdie.agency/day-1-self-employed-at-last/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=day-1-self-employed-at-last
Thu, 02 Jun 2016 13:30:19 +0000http://littlebirdie.agency/?p=404Read More →]]>Last Thursday I left my place of employment as a full-time employee for the last time. I admit, it was bitter sweet. There are so many things I loved about working there, but most of all was the people. While there are many things that I will miss, I know that striking out on my own is the right thing for me to do right now. And so, my next adventure begins!

On Friday I enjoyed my first day being self-employed. Here is my day, as captured on Instagram.

A photo posted by Marketing Powers For Good (@littlebirdiecom) on May 27, 2016 at 12:56pm PDT

There you have it! I am still getting into the mindset of working on my own schedule – and sticking to a schedule! Right now it feels more like I’m on vacation. I even find myself thinking about needing to go into work (for my former employer) the next day, or what I need to get done for my former employer this week – then I remember I don’t work there anymore!

I also have to work around my kids’ schedules, and they’re still in school. Very soon I’ll have them home with me all day, so there will be some more adjustment when that happens. So far, I am loving the flexibility I have, even with some of the mom-duties I have to work around.